The Vancouver-based Profile Coworking Business Club announced on Monday, Feb 19, that it is developing a blockchain-based decentralized coworking model called Profile.club. According to the company, this model will help eliminate intermediaries and enable the “common renter” to own real estate. In 2019, Vancouver is predicted to have the second-lowest office vacancy rate in the Western hemisphere, dropping below 6.5 percent.
“The Profile’s mission is simple: disrupt the notion of commercial real estate ownership and leasing,” said Profile Coworking Business Club CEO Kevin Penstock, in a statement. “This new model will unlock value distributing control and ownership of commercial real estate through a peer-to-peer decentralized platform not viable prior to the advent of Profile.club”.
Profile.club will be, in part, implemented as Ethereum smart contracts, powering utility tokens that serve as network fuel and currency for services, workspace, and amenities within its membership, the company stated. Members with specific utility tokens will have the option to convert or trade these for securities tokens, essentially owning a share in the commercial property and the company. Members will pay rent, attend events, purchase meeting rooms, and earn tokens from fulfilling roles in the network.
“This is a landmark offering for the common office renter which are virtually excluded from this opportunity,” said Penstock. “Unless you invest a conglomerate such as Brookfield – who own and manage 89 million square feet – or an REIT, or your last name is Wall, Trump or Bentall, owning commercial real estate is unattainable.”
More information available at: http://theprofile.ca
